[step-manufacturing] Minutes of October 1st conference call

[Martin Hardwick]

Attendees
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Martin Hardwick, STEP Tools, USA
David Loffredo, STEP Tools, USA
Julie Huang, Sandvik Sweden
Bengt Olsson, Sandvik, Sweden
Mangus Lundgren, KTH, Sweden
Mikael Hedlind, Scania, Sweden
Alain Brail, Airbus (retired), France
Robert Erickson, Pratt and Whitney, USA
Sid Venkatesh, Boeing, USA
Leon Xu, Boeing, USA
David Odendahl, Boeing, USA
Vincent Marchetti, Ameritech, USA
Bryan Dods, GE Power and Water, USA
Tom Raun, Iscar, USA
Larry Maggiano, Mitutoyo, USA

We discussed the white paper. The paper should be broad in concept and 
describe one or more significant manufacturing problems. It should 
describe what functionalities are required to fix the problems and then 
give our technical proposals.

After much discussion it was suggested that we focus on the difficulty 
of moving work between machines and plants (the Build Anywhere problem). 
We should describe how we must transition away from machine specific 
code based solutions and into machine independent model based solutions. 
We should discuss how models enable third parties to optimize, customize 
and localize solutions using cloud based services. We should also 
describe how models enable automated verification using CMMs and other 
types of measuring equipment.

We can then discuss how STEP-NC enables a model based solution, the test 
cases we have developed to verify its functionality, and the solutions 
we are developing to enable its deployment.

After the discussion, David Loffredo demonstrated the new API that STEP 
Tools is developing to enable feedback from the machining control system 
to the machining simulation system. This API is a generalization of the 
interface previously developed to operate the Okuma control from the 
STEP-NC Machine simulator for the IMTS demonstration. For more details 
see the meeting recording.

The next conference call will be held at the regular times on Wednesday 
October 8.
ftp://www.steptools.com/private/CAM_exchange/Cycle_5/stepmanuf_telecon_20141001.wmv